The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 27, 1898, Page 23

THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1898.: | (From.a Photograph. 1 people were aroused months ago by the dec- that a ong them. ed and aps have suffered h had not the appeal of heard at Wash- vith perhaps 20, ition and a mountain up one bright morning the four priests o prison. ¢ camp is still ns are > author- e Inc ead of con- ed defeat ico is mournfully e previous history in’t conquer. however, is , from that t reason that the i y of 1 to the United It upon the grant occupy, and their ded for in ens, although f suffrage. Tunis or Morocco do The | tortured, t As a result, a squadron and a Zinl and called a halt to the | | sor U.8.TRO 0PS CALLED QUT N - A ZUNIWITCH CHASE” | Troub ~Ooldiers Compe fed to R on Guard. \White Women Teachers Take 2 Hand and the Whole fe Ends in a Pecufiar Tangle-—-The emain pasges in and out by means of the lad- nominally governed by a head man, | in Zuni, went to the village as a mis- der route, for outside doors are the ex- ception rather than the rule in Zuni: As a result of this:plan the houses in | the center- of the village are four or | five high, while only on the extreme | outskirts are single hbuses found. | terior In- decoration or furnishing known as the governor, who s ap- pointed by the priests. He serves un- til they instruct him to vacate in fa- vor of a successor. 2 But-their secret order, known as the Priests of the Bow, comprises the real sionary about ten years ago. She it was who first reported the torturing of the witch, to -Captain C. E. Nord- strom, Tenth Cavalry, who (until his sudden death a few weeks ago), was Indian agent at Santa Fe. Captain 18 |.governing: power over the people. They | Nordstrom, upon: the representations of scant in a Zuni house. Usually. they i Dbelleve that the priests have the power | Miss Dessette, recommended that the THE OLD WOMAN ACCUSED OF BEING A WITCH BEING SCOURGED BEFORE THE HIGH PRIEST| OF THE ZUNL not sent a more picturesque appear- ance than do the winding.lanes in the pueblo of Zuni. Although they own 3 level land, ‘yet together. If.a ain place n the village and another. likes the lo- but’ simiply 2 pon the top of the- other, which, according to Zuni custom, he has a perfect right to do: Another Indian also likes the site an builds a third house on top of the sel ond. Each leaves a hole in his floor, through which .a ladder: leads down into the house of the original pos: of the lot, who, with his family | contain but one room, perhaps twenty | by thirty feét, although in exceptional | cases two and even ‘three rooms are to be found.” The side walls of the houses adjoin and tiny doors connect one with another, so that it is possible 'to go quite a distance through the village without going out-of-doors. They have a religion. if their odd be- liefs may be-50 termed, but it is a re- ligion of fear rather-than of love. If | they can bit succeed in driving out | the various devils that beset them the | bad. will' be averted and the good will take care of itself. Superstition rules | ‘them. The word of their priests is held | at all times in highest reverence and | is their supreme ‘authority. They.are | HOW TO SUCCEED AS AN ACTOR Advice of William H. Crane, the Comedian, to “Those Who Contemplate Going leading lady T pieces bette parts than e now presented,” a woman wrote me in two ago, I am s cook, with me as they would their into e, If I erred in declining to permit this lady to substitute Shakespeare for bacon—and eggs, I hope she will at use into her culinary career patience, energy, talent and tact . which would have been essential to ‘her success on the stage. She is f hundreds of her sex who honor I feel it to be an honor, by life on Many.a good cook is spoiled to bad actress, and the young vho persist in embarking on the 1 sea after passing by the or the ribbon counter won't 1 am sure, if I try to point out just where they are apt to pwreck. Thirty-five years of rk in any profession ought to e a man’'s experiences valuable to T1nere need be no sugges- ity (in telling some of them they may do good. The only I am vain of is hard work. 4 work, to ambitious ears, ind harsh. ‘she glamour of the no use making fun of -xists—draws toward the » door 80 many women who want exploit their vanity, so many men covet ready reputation and big that I sometimes think there ctually more aspirants for honors jis profession than in any other, ally than in those, such as law dicine, where the laws require ematic preparation. ung man, Or young woman, »ing to preach to you. I get 1 of fun out of life, even it * past 50 and play r and my own name. , my young friends, , according to my y to success on the how well equipped and education. ery little for me. I am of my family on the stage, got from my father, who was a e up in Connecti , very little bt the ability to work and the de- ination to ck to it. His name ne, and when, as a boy, I made u mind that I wanted to be an actor, I decided that I would still be a Crane. I've never had a stage name. » 1 -started in with no capital, no clothes, no special education and inflience. I didn’t even have an 0 matter no opportunity, but I thought one would come if I waited long evoush, ERE I not sure that I can; the | on the Stage. Company a good many weeks, at noth- ing a week, and I mean it, when my first opportunity eame. It was in Wil- liamsport, Pa., in 1863." I was sitting in the first entrance watching the stage, as I had watched it night in and night /ing every bit of business, change of costume, think ch role I should like to play.b when the stage manager -told me Holman was ill. 'The opera was “‘Son- nambula,” an English "version, .and young Holman had been.singing Alles- sio, the basso, a gaod comedy part. “I can do it,” I said, without a mo- ment’s hesitation. They all looked at me in astonishment, some in. amuse- ment. “O pshaw,” said the elder Holman, ‘“you’d have to be rehearsed and you'd have to iearn.the music. We've got to have somebody now.” “Well, I can do it now,” I answered.. “I don’t want any rehearsal and I know the music.” That was true, too. I had learned every part in the piece sitting there in the first entrance watching the com- pany. And I got every laugh, and never missed a word or a note. The next night Ben Holman was cast for Caspar in “Der Freischutz,” the heaviest basso part I know of. I sang it.right through, and the next night sang Devilshoof. Ben heard what was going oh, and he made an effort and came to the theater to take his own part, but the exertion | killed him. He died not long afterward. | His illness gave me my opportunity. | I was with the Holmans for seven years, and when I wasn't at the theater | T was with them at their lodgings. -I | never left 'em, and kept right on trying | to learn every part in every piece in their repertoire, studying until toward morning, instead of skylarking after | the performance was over. 1 But all the time I realized that I would never make a musician. I didn’t know the notes. I wanted to be an | actor. So I left the Holmans and went | to Crowe’s Theater and played there in | legitimate comedy. I didn’t get but $20 | a week, but I was satisfied. I was. learning something all the time and I | was sitting up. until 5 o’clock, plenty_ of | mornings, studying the old English | comedies, putting ice water on my eyes | to keep 'em open and pegging away at | rehearsals next day. | Not much “glamour” about that, eh? | | I was taking every chance that came my way and waiting for more. I was studying all the comedy parts in the range of old English comedy with the hope, and on the chance, that I might | some day have an opportunity to play them. I remember learning letter per- fect seven parts in a single piece, for I couldn’t tell which one of them I might get a chance at, some day. The young men who want to “go on the stage” nowadays—do they fancy I had been with the Holman Opera | | with him, and at last I got mad, thihk- | ing of my own experience, and I said ! to hi such a prospect? .= How many weeks willing to work at nothing a week—with no part? How many years | willing to study, on a small with only expectations? a short time ago a young man in'my company objected to understudy- ing three or tour parts. I reasoned hi “My young friend, the last week I was with the Hooley Comedy Company I played nine parts in four nights.” That settled it. When I'made up my mind to give up comic opera and-to devote my life to comedy, I realized that I was giving up a good deal of cash in hand for the sake of possible recompense. 1 was looking ahead to a prospect.of excel- lence. and delibera.ely throwing over an offer to have my name printed in big letters as first comedian of the Alice Oates Company with parts that would divide. honors fairly with her. ‘What is more, I was giving up $125 a week for a salary of just $65 per week, but little more.than half as much. A good ‘many young men would take that extra $60 and immedlate popular favor. But I think it paid me not to do . it. I was ambitious; and I am more ambitious now, to-day, than I was then. And after I was married my wife was mere ambitious for me thari I was for myself. 2 Ambition? I should say.so. I fear deterioration in my-own work, in my company, in my productions,.as mucn now as ever in my life. Why? Be- cause I am prou@ of what I have achieved -by work, sheer honest work, work that has never flagged, and that will not as long as I am acting. - I am determined people -shan't say I “got it by luck.”’ It was work—and ambition. “‘Crane’s luck,” said Joe Jefferson mnot long ago, when somebody spoke of me in that connection, “Crane’s luck! Non- sense; it’s Crane’s work.” And that's just the reason why I am not ashamed to speak ‘of it. I have never to my knowledge said, “I can play that part just as well as So and So.” Buf I have always played every part just as well, just as hard, as I possibly could and let the result take care of itself. And what's more, I'am just as afraid of failure to-day as I ever was in my life, just as eager to guard against it. That’s all, my young friends. Once started on the stage, don't sacrifice a possible future for present cash. Don't try to star just because you have mada a- hit. Don’t think about “the gla. mour of the stage.” Don't expect anybody to make ‘“the- opportunity of your life,” ready to your hand. Study, study, study and wait your chance. - ‘Whether you should start or not de- [ witch: to discern witches, cast out devils, | make rain, cause crops to grow, bring about fruitful marriages—everything, in fact, provided their work Is not in- terfered with by some designing Therefore, when anything goes wrong,: it is the witch who is to. blame and not the priests. Then it is that the quiet Zunis, urged to anger by the statement of the priests that a witch has been found, rise as one man and demand the life of the witch by tortyre. .Then it is, also, that Uncle Sam steps in and calls a halt. This Is. exactly the situation in Zuni to-day. \ i i W gl gt Lt B e I THE ZUNI CITY AND P Mary E. Dessette, who is employed | by the Interior Department as princi- | pal teacher .in the school esta.blishedJ Interior Department request the War | Department to order four troops of cavalry to Zuni, post haste, arrest the four Priests of the Bow, subdue any uprising that might follow the arrest, and then remain at Zuni until such time in the future as would insure the _safety of the white people living there. Miss Dessette said: “I did not learn of the torturing of the old woman until Monday, and she was tortured first on the preceding Friday. I took one of the teachers, Miss Ferrote, with me, and found the house by direction of a relative of the | have a grudge. UL aridlenee ‘wr byl i A Kt T ity e S i fl i i poor woman. T knew she would not let any of the Zuniscomein. I found the old woman, whose name {s Ma-u-ri-ta, in Rl 3 ;(% ol Mk REPARED FOR ANY Di Drawn From a Photograph. 23 MA-U-RI-TA, WHO WAS CHARGED i FERROT], WITH WITCHCRAFT, AND MISS: FIELD MATRON. (From a Photograph.) a little stuffy room, up two or three steps from the main floor of the house. “She was lying in some filthy rags and was badly frightened when I en- tered, doubtless thinking I was one of the Indians coming to torture her. I told her I was her friend and had come to help her, but she did not believe me at first. I then compelled some of the members of her family to return to the house and care for her after I had washed her, bandaged her lacerated arms and back and dressed her injuries as well as I was able. She told me that they had come for her on Friday and taken her to a corral where burros are kept, lashed her hands behind her back, and then hanged her so that her feet just touched the ground. Then they beat her most unmercifully and in- flicted all sorts of fiendish tortures that a savage mind can think of, until, finally, to escape further torture for the time being at least, poor old Ma-u-ri-ta confessed that she was the witch. They will confess to almost anything that is required of them to be released from torture. “The priests charged her with having caused the death of Wah-woh, who was a somewhat notable creature, and with other misdeeds usually attributed to witches. The Zunis believe that the witehes can cause a plague of grass- hoppers, or other pests, or the death or disgrace of any one toward whom they These Priests of the Bow cause all the trouble, for they are the ones who declare that there is a witch and who seek her out. They in- variably select some poor old person who is in the way. Any Indian who has attained wealth enough to own a wagon. need have no fear of ever being found a witch, as he is too important a member of the community after that. Miss Ferrote is also in the employ of the Interior Department, in the capacity of fleld- matron. She visits all the houses in the village, treats the sick, consoles the sorrowing, ministers to the wants of men, women and chil- dren in a perfectly impartial manner and is called ‘‘Mother” by the entire tribe. Miss Ferrote, according to Ka-pa-te-wi, or “Mormon,” the pres- ent Governor of Zuni, is beloved by every resident of the village, old and young. She said: “I dressed the old woman’s injuries, which were frightfully severe, and have attended her repeatedly since that time. So far as I know, no other woman, except of her own family, has visited her. I have never seen any evidence of danger toward any woman in the employ of the Interior Depart- ment since I have been here, and I do not believe ‘it exists. I am perfectly sure that if the soldiers were removed L i {1 i L) i i l i T e 1) I ’ to-morrow I could go anywhere in the village, day or night, in perfect safety, except at night I would carry a stick withwhichtochasethe dogs. Iam of the, opinion that if the authorities at Fort! ‘Wingate had sent word to the four men! that they were wanted at the post, they would have all gone in wlthout‘ any one to arrest them. I certainly, do not feel any need of soldiers for pro-| tection, and the young ladies in the! school express the same sentiment.” Mr. D. D. Graham, who has been In. dian trader at Zuni since 1880, said:! “I don’t think there was any real ne-| cessity for troops at any time, and do“ not think so now. When Major God-( frey arrived, only two of the priests! were in the village. He sent for them and they came. Deputy Sheriff Behil! of Valencia County was there with the warrants. The two priests were asked! where the two others were and said that they. could get them. Instead of! locking them up or imprisoning them! Major Godfrey told them to go after the| other two men, who were about twenty, miles out in the country. They went! and got'them and all four of the men! who were wanted reported next dav,!| with their blankets, and accompanied the troops to Wingate, whence they! were sent to Las Lunas and placed in| Jail to await trial, which will be tha! latter part of this month. Ni-u-tche, High Priest of the Bow, Ha-to-tse, No-ma-see and Ke-a-se, lesser priests, | were the men arrested. Ma-sche, also| a member of the priesthood, is acting high priest and is conducting th dances in the village now.” i I asked Ka-pa-te-wi, the Zuni Gov-| ernor, if ‘the children would be with- drawn from the school if the troops were to leave. He speaks fairly good| English and among other things said: ““Troops make no difference 'bout send boy and girl school. You ask Wash- ington (meaning the Interior Depart- ment) send 'nother womans for teach, what no cut off hair, no jaw childre then Zuni glad send all boy and girl school. Miss Dessette she want Zunf. girl hair c¢ut all around. She say if Zun! girl cut front (“bangs” are worn by all Zuni girls and women), she cut off back. hair all same. That what the matter.! Ask Washington send ‘nother woman.” “Tu-ma-cha,” or “Nick,” as he is best| known, is the linguist of the tribe. He was for many years interpreter for Mr. Graham and is considered a smart In-| dian. He said: “We don’t need soldier; soldier he no; want to stay here neither. Miss Des-| sette think if soldier stay, him scare{ Zuni girl to go to school. Soldier he no{ want scare girl. I take my daughter, out school ‘cause Miss Dessette him been cuttin’ hair. Cut off hair like that make Zuni girl look like hell.” : W. J. ROUSE. I i EMONSTRATION. Sclentists assert that the fly cam make 600 strokes a second with its; wings. : — STRANGE MESSAGES SENT OVER THE TELEPHONE! f ONSIDERING the fact that i millions of miles of wire and half the States of the country are included in our telephone system, and we have something like 250,000 subscribers. It isn’t strange that some peculiar things happen over the long-distance lines,” said the telephone man, as he leaned .back in his chair after connect- ing Omaha and New York just to show how .easy it is to talk across 1600 miles. “The other day the papers printed a story of how a bank president in Min- neapolis presided over a meeting of di- rectors in Lowell, Mass.,” he went on. “That. was correct enough, but it wasn't such an unusual thing as one might infer from reading the accounts of it. It has become quite the regular thing for a railroad or a bank director who can't set to the regular place of meeting to be connected with the meet- ing place by wire; bv the use of a large transmitter he is able to hear every- thing that goes on, and to take part in the proceedines almost as well as though he were on the spot: I know too, that the distance 'phone has been used to close some of the largest com- mercial transactions that have taken place in the country during the past five years. “The use of the long range telephone for great business affairs seems natural enough, for the high charges are trivial compared with the interests involved. But anybody who hasn’t had a chance to learn from being in the business would be astonished at some of the messages that go over the wires and for which the senders pay good round sums in the way of tolls. I suppose the reason for this is that the telephone is still comparatively new to most peo=. ple; ‘they lock upon it with somethin of wonder and they like to experime; pends largely on how anxious you are to work. Don't you think so? WILLIAM H. CRANE. . Copyright, 1898, by S. S. McClure, with it to see if it will do all that i claimed for it. _“Here, for instance, 18 a case that we had last night and which 1s one of a kind that we get six days in every -week. A Cincinnati man had come on to New York on business. He had evi- dently just left his train when he came to the ’phone and called up his Ohio house. There evidently wasn’t any par- ticular reason for it, except his desire to talk with his family. One after an- other the mother and five children came to the ’phone and exchanged a few sentences with the head of the house. In such long distance work, where the charges are high, it’is cus- tomary- for the operator to notify the user of the wire at the end of each five minutes of the time so that there won’t be any confusion about the cost at the end. In this case the conversation kept dragging out and the night manager who had the wire notified the man every five minutes, each time being met with the reply, ‘T'll take five minutes more.’ The Cincinnati man was de- termined that every one of his family should hear his voice, and he didn’t care how much it cost. Last of all the baby was brought to the transmitter, a youngster who could just lisp “Hello, papa,’ and then the man settled his bill for $108 without a murmur, doubtless feeling well -repaid in having listened to his baby’s coo across that distance. “Of course that's an extreme case in the size of the charge, but in other re- spects it isn’t an unusual thing, espec- jally with westerners. It seems tc me thataboutonein every ten men, wheth- er they come from Chicago or some lit- tle cross roads town, rush off to ‘the telephqne the first thing when they strike New York, and call up the wife or sweetheart whem they have left be- at home. To the outsider their lit- ome gossip or sweet nothings seem to amount to much, but I it makes life pleasanter for o are interested, so nobody object to it. ember a case more peculiar hat of the Cincinnati man that fned while I was manager in the Chicago Exchange. A man in the city had a fox terrier of which he was very proud, while the dog was as complete- ly devoted to him. He had to go to some place in Michigan on business which kept him away for several days. As soon as he had gone the dog began to suffer from a severe attack of lone- liness. He wouldn’t eat, and lay about meping until the man's wife was afraid the terrier would die before his master’s return. One night the man went into thé station of the town where he was stopping and said that he wanted to talk to his dog. So con- nection was made with his house and the receiver was placed to the terrier’s ear. Instantly he recognized his mas- ter's vcice and began to frolic -about and bark at'a great rate. Two. or three times after that the Chicago man repeated the performance and he didn’t mind the $10 or $12 that it cost him in the least. “There have been various fiction sto- ries written which involved proposals by telephone, but I know of at least one instance in which such a thing ac- tually occurred. The young man was 8o pleased that when it was over he told me all about it. He had been courting a girl in an Ohio town, the name of which it isn’'t necessary to give here, had quarreled with her for some foclish reason and had come east, intending to sail for Europe. He had been thinking the matter over on the way, decided that he had been a fool, and when he heard that another fel- low was after the girl made up his mind to heroic measures. So he sent a message to the girl asking her to come to the telephone, but not giving his name. When he came to the office to keep the appointment he was the most nervous fellow I ever saw, and I'll bet that no man was ever more agitated in the actual presence of his charmer. But he managed to get through the business somehow, and the result was 80 satisfactory that the first thing he; wanted to know when he came out o!l the booth was how soon he could get a! train back to the west. t “We have a good many queer orders| to fill and they are becoming more nu-; merous as the telephone comes int more general use. Last fall an opera, singer had negotiations under way with, some New York managers. They didn want to engage her, however, without; first hearing her voice. She was sing- ing in Chicago at the time and couldn’t| leave. The difficulty was adjusted b; telephone. The managers came to my office, the woman sang before a bi transmitter In Chicago and her tones! were heard with perfect clearness here in New York. The test was so0 satis~ factory that she was engaged on the! spot. “The newspapers printed accounts of} our reproduction of Niagara's roar af the electrical exposition and of tI sounds of the great sound mone; parade in Chicago last year, and, as I say, -such orders are becoming more numerous. 3 ‘‘One class of men with whom the long-distance telephone is in high favor are the politicians. = Perhaps it is be- cause they prefer to trust to spoken words rather than written ones, even, where time is not a consideration, pere haps it is because of the facilities which the telephone gives for keeping in con- stant touch with events that are oc-} curring at distant places, but certain it is that the politiclans are among our most liberal patrons. “During the last Presidential cam- paign Major McKinley kept constantly in touch with the Republican head-! quarters both in New York and Chi-| cago by means of the telephone, and he received the first official notice of his' election in that way. When important| bills are under consideration in Albn,ny| the telephone wires connecting that. city. with certain offices in New York' are kept hot most of the time, i